Practice Development Unit news

Manager’s update

At this stage of the year it is suddenly apparent that we are well into the year, Easter is over and school children have commenced their second term. Business is busy for the Education Department; our programs are vast and many at this stage of the year and feedback continues to be positive.

April heralds an important change for the Centre for Education and Research. As from 7 April our department officially changed its name from Centre for Education and Research to Practice Development Unit, a name that has been adopted by all education departments across Eastern Health. This is a hugely exciting change for us, now having the opportunity to develop a shared education vision across Eastern Health that will focus education on practice development. As this unit develops and re-defines itself throughout 2008, it is anticipated that our interface with the other sites within Eastern Health will advance education opportunities and resources for all Nurses and Midwives working within Eastern Health.

Our 2007 programs culminated in our annual Certificate Presentation, held on 10 April in the Noel Ramsey Lecture Theatre, Box Hill Hospital. This was an evening of much celebration and reflected the positive and fun disposition of the nursing staff within Box Hill Hospital. The evening concluded with the presentation of the de Voil Medal, with this year’s recipient Polly Allsop. The de Voil Medal has been given annually as a combined Deakin University/Box Hill Hospital award for clinical leadership and excellence in Critical Care Nursing. It was with great pleasure that Philippa de Voil, Director of Nursing at Box Hill Hospital between 1986 to 2000, was able to attend our certificate evening and present this medal to Polly. Philippa’s tireless leadership has left a legacy that contributed to the development of the Postgraduate Critical Care Nursing course at Deakin University.

As we enter the second quarter of the year, it is worthwhile to reflect on the education achievements so far in 2008. All our novice programs are now well underway. Our Graduate Nurses and Midwives have completed their orientation periods and our Entry into Specialty Practice (ESP) programs and Postgraduate programs are also well in progress. I would, therefore, like to take this opportunity to thank the Preceptors and other support staff who have positively contributed to the ward/unit orientation of those undertaking our programs. Our appreciation for those who support our Nurses and Midwives can not be suitably emphasised. The success, implementation and sustainability of education programs are always dependant on the people who continue to support them. Therefore, once again, it is with much gratitude that I thank all Preceptors and others who continue to be committed to developing the Nursing and Midwifery profession within Box Hill Hospital.

The second quarter of the year will begin with celebrations for International Nurses’ and Midwives’ Day; the newly renamed Practice Development Unit looks forward to celebrating our profession with you.

Georgina Willetts, Manager

Graduate Nurse Program

A warm welcome is extended to our newest recruits to Eastern Health. The March intake of Graduate Nurses commenced 17 March and are rapidly settling into their new roles as Registered Nurses. The 2008 Graduate Nurse group is a staff-base of 73. The clinical rotations now offered to our Graduates encompass clinical opportunities across three sites: Box Hill Hospital, Peter James Centre and Wantirna Health. To be able to provide a comprehensive program that allows clinical experience across health specialties – acute, sub-acute and ambulatory programs – only serves to strengthen our service excellence, skills and knowledge as we move forward working in an increasingly complex and dynamic health arena. The current and future Graduates who participate in our program will provide leadership to all Nurses across Eastern Health as they bring broader scopes of practice that will complement all care streams. The strength of the program is without any doubt largely attributed to all staff employed across Eastern Health. We have a dedicated and committed Preceptor group, Unit Managers and recognised role models and leaders amongst our nursing staff. To each one, a heartfelt thank you! The Clinical Education staff work tirelessly to provide the program infrastructure and clinical support. In recognition of the growth of the Graduate Program, I would like to take this opportunity to also welcome Lisa Street and Cate Wade, who are supporting the Graduates working at Peter James Centre and Wantirna Health. Well done everyone!

Julie Stevens, Kaylene Bradford, Clare Cleave
Graduate Nurse Program

Critical Care Nursing

Emergency Department Triage Study Day

The first Eastern Health Triage Training program was run on 16 April. This program was conducted according to the recently revised guidelines for triage that were launched by a representative of the Australian Government at the CENA conference in October 2007.

Twenty-two Triage Nurses from Box Hill, Angliss and Maroondah hospitals’ Emergency Departments attended a very successful day program, with more programs to come in the next few weeks.

The day provided an opportunity for Nurses across the three Eastern Health sites to collaborate and share ideas and experiences. Evaluations of the day found that staff from all sites valued the opportunity to meet and work with other Eastern Health Emergency Nurses. The program aims to ensure consistency in triage in all hospitals to ensure that benchmarking can occur. It is envisaged that, by using this training in an Eastern Health format, that the three sites will become more consistent and triaging practice will be enhanced for each department.

All Triage Nurses and Nurses training towards Triage are required to attend. For more details contact Kristy Johnson, Emergency Clinical Nurse Educator, Box Hill Hospital, on 9895 4860.

de Voil Medal

At the Certificate Presentation on 10 April, we were able to formally recognise the hard work and effort that all our Postgraduate Critical Care students have put in throughout 2007.

Congratulations to Polly Allsop, winner of the de Voil Medal for clinical excellence and nursing leadership in 2007.

Congratulations must also be given to Fiona Abbott and Chris Jackson who were awarded High Commendations for their achievements throughout the Postgraduate course, plus to all of our Critical Care Postgraduate students on the completion of their course! We are very proud of all your achievements and growth into inspiring Critical Care Nurses, and wish you all the very best for your future careers.

Paula Eustace, Kerrie Frantz, Kristy Johnson
Critical Care Clinical Nurse Educator

Oncology Nursing

The first Introduction to Oncology course has been completed for the year with 20 attendees. It was a particularly interactive course with a great group of students. The second course for the year is scheduled for October 2008.

The Postgraduate Oncology students, both first and second years, are all well into the Semester now – and just loving it! The next Postgraduate Oncology Nursing Course will run at Box Hill Hospital in Semester 2 from July to November.

Three new Entry to Specialty Practice (ESP) participants have recently commenced in 3 West – Oncology Ward. They have already attended the Introductory course, their main theoretical requirement for ESP, so now they have plenty to do with learning packages, assessments, and concentrating on their Oncology clinical skills to complete the program by August. It’s also great to see a number of previous ESP participants enrolling in our Postgraduate course this year, with a view to completing Postgraduate studies with Latrobe University (through which our course is accredited).

Eastern Health Oncology Education Mentor Program
This two-phased project is now wrapping up after two years of mentoring, education and networking across Eastern Health, also incorporating the rural factor of The Northern Hospital and their catchment areas – as wide spread as Shepparton and the Hume RICS (Regional Integrated Cancer Services) area. The program has been great and a fabulous networking experience for all participants. I am currently finishing off all the evaluation components and the final, extensive project report for the Commonwealth.

Heather Buttigieg, Oncology Nurse Educator

Undergraduate Nurse Program

Thank you to everyone for their support of the Undergraduate students during 2007. The 2008 Undergraduate students commence Clinical Placements at Box Hill Hospital on most medical and surgical wards from 28 April. Deakin University Year 3 students will be the first group to commence.

Last year, most ward NUMs and ANUMs ensured that buddies were organised for each student prior to commencement of the shift, which enabled the students to identify their buddies, and sometimes their patients, prior to handover. This planning assisted the students to feel much more comfortable and organised when commencing their shift. Considering the success, I strongly encourage Managers to again develop this practice as I am sure the students would be very appreciative.

Please do not hesitate to report any concerns or issues immediately to the Clinical Educators supporting the students or to myself. The sooner we are able to identify any issues, the sooner we are able to implement assistance for the student from their University.

Jan Hicks, Undergraduate Co-ordinator

Eastern Health Mentor Program

An exciting new initiative has recently commenced that will provide mentoring to a number of Nurses across Eastern Health, with the program consisting of project teams and group mentors. There are two concurrently run programs – a one-to-one mentor program for ANUMs in the three Eastern Health Emergency departments, and a group mentor program for Graduate Preceptors across all Eastern Health sites. This is initially a 12-month initiative (through to April 2009), the initial training for which was held in April at Wantirna Health.

Heather Buttigieg, Oncology Nurse Educator

E-Learning

The Practice Development Unit is currently reviewing its Intranet page and online resources. We welcomed back Felicity Stevens from Maternity Leave in January who has been working hard, in collaboration with the IT department, to develop a new site and prospective learning packages to go online. Felicity is meeting the goal to have new, E-learning packages available for Eastern Health staff online later in the year. The first learning package to go online will be the Nursing Calculation package, which you may know as Ncalc. This is a mandatory learning package which Eastern Health Nurses must complete each year. Felicity is also currently working on Know your Diabetes Care, an E-learning package that will be allocated CNE points, plus a wound E-learning package Care of Wounds and Skin (CoWS).

We are developing this site for you, and therefore encourage feedback of what you and your colleagues would like included. Contact Felicity on felicity.stevens@easternhealth.org.au or Megan on megan.barrow@easternhealth.org.au with any suggestions of what information you would like to have online access to in relation to your education. We will email updates on how the site and online packages are progressing throughout the year – so watch this space!

Staff news

We bid farewell to Dianne Shalders, Perioperative Clinical Nurse Educator, in March. We wish her the very best of luck with her future endeavours. Petina Edgeworth is acting in this role until a permanent replacement is employed.

We must also thank the hard-working Midwifery team, Vanessa Watkins, Alison Sadler and Jenny Leigh, who are currently job-sharing the Midwifery Clinical Educator role.

Course brochures

Are you missing out on Centre for Education & Research’s course information? Do you miss a course that you wanted to attend? Would you like to receive all Centre for Education & Research’s courses online?

Contact Megan Barrow on 9895 3372 or email megan.barrow@easternhealth.org.au who can add you to the department’s email distribution list to receive all course information and brochures.

NOVEMBER

Graduate Nurse Program

Undergraduate Nurse Program